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This week's big reveals include that Monroe has a train that can run from Indiana to Philadelphia, and this is how Neville will finally deliver Danny. Nora's grand plan for preventing this is to blow up the train, with the help of her new rebel friend Hutch. Unfortunately she tries to blow it up while Danny is onboard (although from the size of the boom, he probably would've survived).
We learn more about Neville's life before the blackout: he was an insurance adjuster, like he said, and he had a nice wife and a small son. He was mild-mannered to the point of being a pushover (although there seemed to be some rage issues under the surface), and he also had a dickhead neighbor across the street who tried to steal his butter knives. And this is how Tom Neville founded his wartime fight club.
Charlie and Miles try to figure out a way to rescue Danny, and the best idea they come up with is running on top of the train, Mission: Impossible-style, and getting in fights with the train's engineer and Neville. This only partially works, and Danny is surely getting tired of ending every episode exactly where he started it—handcuffed to a crabby Allstate rep who likes punching him in the face.
And in Philadelphia, Monroe has finally gotten Rachel to talk about what Ben was working on before the blackout. Using Danny as leverage, he pries out the existence of the silver MacGuffins. There are twelve, and they are necessary to turn the power back on.
Also, ethnically ambiguous militia spy Nate is actually Neville's son, Jason. And he still wants to make out with Charlie.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously on Revolution: Miles acquired Nora, as well as some intel on Neville's whereabouts. Nate reappeared and Maggie got fatally stabbed in the leg. Danny tried to escape Neville, but his own basic decency screwed him once again.
Noblesville, Indiana. Neville's fight club. Apparently the world isn't gruesomely violent enough, so these militia dudes need to smash each other in the face to feel something. Neville looks purely delighted at the opportunity to belt Danny. Danny, though, refuses to fight -- until Neville breaks his nose. Then he turns into the show's little Jared Leto and, like Jared, gets his pretty face pounded to a pulp, complete with squishy Foley noises. Ick.
Flashback to the day of the blackout. Neville, wearing a shirt and tie, is fiddling with his wedding ring in what appears to be his supervisor's office. The boss man tosses a folder at him and asks him to explain how he handled the claim. Apparently he paid out for smoke damage, even though the person's policy didn't cover that. Because Neville really did have a soft, chewy center once upon a time! Until he got canned. It's basically the scene in The Incredibles where Wallace Shawn fires Bob Parr. Ooh, I wonder if we'll see Giancarlo Esposito pulling a locomotive later.
Maggie's lonely grave. Charlie and Aaron stand to it and say nothing while Miles sharpens his knife and tells them to get a move on. He says they've spent too much time standing around. Charlie wants to say goodbye, and Miles says Maggie's just a body in the ground now, while Danny is alive and they can still help him. Charlie pouts, because it's always one step forward, five steps back with the limpid-eyed whiner. She gathers up her stuff and they hit the road.
The five are walking through the forest when they hear the horn of a steam engine blast. Miles runs toward the sound and they see tracks, as well as an actual train. Neville observes that if Monroe has a working train, this could be very bad.
A panicky stationmaster is telling Neville the train should be in a museum (even though those don't really exist anymore), and the tracks from Noblesville to Baltimore are blocked by nonworking cars. Neville insists that the train will leave tomorrow, so the stationmaster should go make that happen.
In Philadelphia, Monroe tells Rachel that Danny is getting on a train and will be there soon. He tells her it's good news, and she's all, no, good news would be a hot shower and a full season's worth of DVDs of The Mindy Project and being able to preserve food other than by salting and pickling, you bastard. He sweet-talks that she'll see her son again (before Monroe starts torturing him), and Rachel makes those big wet eyes that everyone on Lost got so good at as she begs him -- for the sake of their past friendship -- to let her son go and she'll tell him everything. He says, "I know you will," because no way is he letting Danny go. All the same, he's sorry it's come to this. Sure he is. He's just bitter about his six seasons and a movie.
Charlie walks through a market alongside an oxen-drawn Toyota Corolla. She peers espionage-ishly at the steam engine. In the garage where our heroes are hiding, she tells Miles the train's departure time is tomorrow morning and he guesses it's going to Philly, with Danny aboard. He asks Nate if he knows anything about the train. Nate doesn't answer, and Miles continues that Danny is surely in town, so now would be a good time to look for him. He hands his crossbow to Aaron and tells him to guard Nate (whom he calls "Nipples," which, hee) and to go ahead and shoot him if Aaron gets twitchy, then instructs Charlie and Nora to canvass the town separately, but to find Miles if they suspect they know where Danny is.
Danny is being held in the vault of a bank, where Neville's boys were having their homoerotic slapfights. Neville begins soliloquizing about banks and how hard everyone worked for money that they never saw. Danny interrupts and tells him to shut up, because he's justifiably sick of listening to Neville. Neville gets all serious about how Danny should be very careful how he talks to him, and Danny asks what he'll do, hit him again? He knows he won't kill him.
Neville gets home on the night of the blackout to find a raging party going on across the street from his house. He asks the neighbor, Rob, who's out on his porch macking on some girl, if he can keep the music down at night because it wakes up Neville's son. The guy doesn't answer, because he's the kind of douche who has all-night ragers in what looks like a nice suburban neighborhood. Neville heads inside, and sure enough, his little boy is awake and comes running up with his Optimus Prime. Neville's wife (who's Kim Raver) asks him how work was, and he doesn't tell her he got fired. Instead he goes down to the basement to work the heavy bag -- and he's quite a bit chubbier than he was in his earlier shirtless punching scene, but I suppose that's what happens during a catastrophe -- until his son, Jason, comes down the stairs behind him. He offers the kid a slug at the bag, but says, "Remember, we only hit the bag. We never hit people." Then the light goes out. Neville calls upstairs for his wife.
Nora cases the train station. There seems to be a bustling bike-repair business going nearby, which answers some questions. She enters what appears to be a bookstore -- the walls are hung with old maps, and the proprietor (Jeff Fahey, another Lost alum) is hand-pressing the cover page of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. He asks how he can help her, and Nora says, "I'm looking for a biography of Joe Biden." Hell, I'd expect Joe to be king of Delaware in this world. The man turns and looks at her, because it's obviously a code. He brings her into a back room, then pulls a knife and says he needs to be sure. She pulls her shirt off her shoulders and shows him her revolutionary tattoo. The man opens a drawer, pulls out the false bottom and hands Nora an American flag. They introduce themselves: "Nora Clayton." "Hutch -- Ken Hutchinson." Nora asks how many men he has, and he says he's the entirety of the Noblesville Underground, that the militia wiped out his entire unit, including his wife. I have a bad feeling about Hutch's survival. Nora says she's part of his unit now, and they're going to blow up that train.
Charlie is skulking around town when Neville comes up behind her. He asks what she's doing, and it takes me a minute to remember that he never saw her back in East Chicagoland. She says she's spying on her boyfriend and thinks he might be cheating on her. Neville asks her name, and she says, "Sara McGill." Neville gives her his real name, and Charlie hesitates before shaking his hand. She asks if he's in town for the train, and he wonders how she guessed. Well, it's a giant shiny thing in the middle of town, in a world pretty much devoid of shiny things. He bids her a good afternoon, and says her boyfriend is an idiot for stepping out on her. Charlie turns away and almost throws up from nerves, then follows Neville.
She walks very quickly and with purpose, which is a good way to attract attention. Naturally, Neville notices he's being tailed, hides behind some crates, and jumps out and grabs Charlie. Before Neville can cut her throat, Miles breaks them up. Neville grasps the situation and observes there's quite the family resemblance between Charlie and Danny (uh... there isn't). Miles tells Charlie to run.
Miles and Neville mutually try to stab each other in the throat while Miles asks politely after Neville's wife, Julia. He says she's doing well, but that he hasn't seen her in a year because he's been hunting Miles. Miles asks how Danny is and Neville says, in pretty much the creepiest way possible, "Oh, he's a spirited young man." Miles asks where he is, and Neville's many things but not an idiot. Miles offers to trade Danny for one of Neville's men -- namely, Nate. Neville says Miles can keep Nate (given what we learn later, that is cold), that he has new orders and he needs Danny, maybe more than he needed Miles. As they circle each other, Neville asks Miles why he left. Miles says he wouldn't understand. Four militia guys notice the confrontation, so Miles judo-flips Neville over his shoulder and flees.
Nate's garage prison. Aaron is staring dourly at Maggie's iPhone and the MacGuffin, which is on a crate to him. He knocks over the crate, because he is a clumsy oaf and it's amazing he's survived this long. Nate grabs the MacGuffin. Aaron asks for it back, and Nate observes that it's an ugly necklace. Aaron nervously says it was his wife's. Nate hands it back under the screen. They hear a noise and Aaron picks up the crossbow. But it's Nora and Hutch. Luckily he doesn't shoot them.
Nora goes behind a truck to change her clothes and tells Aaron to tell Miles she's going to put a bomb on the train and take out as many of Monroe's officers as she can. Aaron starts to panic, asking Nora what will happen if Danny is also on the train. Nora doesn't seem to care much, because her taste in teenage boys runs to Texans. She says Miles will just have to find him first.
Miles is yelling at Charlie about how he told her not to get close, while she argues that Neville actually ran into her. He says she got emotional (got emotional? She's been a simpering bag of feelings for the past month, man!) and she blew their chance to get Danny back. Charlie doesn't seem particularly bothered as Miles says their only advantage was the element of surprise, but when he says that if they fail to save Danny it's her fault, she finally says, "You never used to be like this!" Miles is as confused as I am -- how does she know? She says she remembers him from when he visited when she was four and he took her for a ride in his car. Charlie asks what happened to that guy. Um... apocalypse, genocide, starvation, military dictatorship and a decade and a half of alcoholism? Miles says instead, "He's dead."
Bank. Militia drag Danny out of his cell and Neville says they're taking him to a more secure location. Danny decides this is a good time to get all smirky about how Neville looks nervous. Neville very generously doesn't throttle Danny, although at this point I totally would. God, these Mathesons are tiresome. Except for Miles. Call me, Miles.
The Nevilles' place, six weeks after the blackout. Tom and Julia are huddled in bed. They hear breaking glass and he goes downstairs to investigate. There's a man rummaging through their kitchen and it's Rob, the across-the-street neighbor, stealing the silver. Jason comes downstairs and says, "Daddy?" Tom tells him to go back to bed and Rob says Tom should also go upstairs "before I beat you in front of your son." Tom tries to hit Rob with the weapon he brought (a golf club?) and Rob blocks it and starts pounding on Tom. Rob is choking Tom, but then Neville gets the upper hand and beats Rob to a bloody pulp. Julia screams her husband's name from the stairwell, but he doesn't stop and from the wet squishing it sure sounds like Rob is a goner. Neville stands, and the music swells because he's now no longer the wimpy insurance adjuster, but someone who beats intruders to death with his fists.
The fab five's garage. Charlie is sputtering about Nora's plan to blow up the train. She tells Miles they need to stop her, but Miles says they won't be able to find her, so instead they should try to find Danny. And the best source of intel they have is their sweet little captive, Nipples. Charlie starts out easy, begging Nate to tell her what he knows. He says he's sorry, but he can't help her. She gets grim (for her) and says she can't help him either. Miles draws his sword and advances on Nate, whom they have stupidly left untied, although his hands are still in zip ties. Despite this he manages to run and climb his way out of the garage, with Miles in pursuit. Outside, with Nate seeming to have vanished, Miles is all, well, that was an incredibly stupid waste of a hostage. Got any more bright ideas, Chuckles?
Philadelphia. Monroe is examining a map of the former United States, which now seems to be divided into about six territories: the Monroe Republic, running from Maine to Michigan and Indiana, with a southern border approximately where the Mason-Dixon Line was; below that, the Georgia Federation, encompassing basically the entire Confederacy; Texas, which seems to have gobbled up Oklahoma and most of Louisiana; the Plains Nation, which is Arkansas north to Wisconsin and west to Montana and the southwestern edge of Kansas; Wasteland, which looks like Idaho through New Mexico and most of Arizona and down into Mexico; and the California Commonwealth, which looks much as it is now, but with Oregon and Washington pasted on top. I'm most amused by Texas.
Anyway, Monroe's companion says the Georgia Federation has allied with the Plains Nation and they've engaged with Monroe's forces on the southern and western borders, near St. Louis. The subordinate, John, says the other two nations seem to have heard about the rebel problems in the Monroe Republic and are taking advantage of the chaos. Monroe Richard-the-Thirds about how he'd like just one Blackhawk chopper and he could subdue the people, "like the Mayans before the Spanish." He muses, "and I'll still cut their guts out," and John looks genuinely disturbed. Monroe continues that he plans to conquer all of North America. Well, if history is any guide, sir, you will need more than one train.
Nora is scraping out a log, musing to Hutch about how the trouble with bombs is the ignition. Without electricity, the best way to start an explosion is black powder. (Does she walk around with a backpack full of explosive?) She says the train's engineer will throw her log on the fire and do the work for them. Hutch says something about how it must have been difficult for Nora to set up "that first one, knowing what it was going to do." Meaning she accidentally killed someone? She says it doesn't get easier, but that you get better as a fighter. Hutch says his wife was the fighter, while he liked books. But he says he thinks she'd be proud of what they're doing.
Nora, in militia drag, adds her log to the stack of firewood on the train, and then strides off. Miles, Charlie and Aaron enter the Noblesville Bank and Trust, but of course the militia guys are gone. In the vault they see a bloody piece of cloth.
The stationmaster tells Neville that departing tomorrow was going to be tough, so it will be nearly impossible to leave early -- the train might not make it to Philadelphia. But Neville insists. With him is Nate, who asks why they're leaving when Miles is in Noblesville. Neville ignores him and boards the train. Danny is already inside. The train blows its horn, and at the bank Miles asks Charlie when it was supposed to leave. She says, "First thing tomorrow." Or right now, whatever. These trains are not run by the Swiss, you know?
The train jerks forward, the horn blows again and then it slowly pulls out of the station. Nora and Hutch are watching from the station and she sees Neville. She thinks aloud, "If Neville's on that train, that kid must be Danny." She says she has to get the bomb off the train. Hutch grabs her arm to stop her and says they have to do this. She replies that she can't kill this kid and moves to jump aboard, but he stabs her. There's a whole handful of women's studies papers to be written about all the penetration on this show, I am telling you. Hutch apologizes and runs off. Charlie and Aaron find Nora, and she tells them the bomb -- and Danny -- are on the train. So Charlie stares glassily as the train chugs away. It's not moving that fast, dude. Run.
Nora tells them the bomb is in the fuel compartment and apologizes again. Charlie makes a weepy face. Miles points out some nearby horses and then they're riding, chasing the train. It's very Butch and Sundance, except that Miles is both Butch and Sundance. He grabs onto the back of the train and pulls himself off the horse and onto the caboose. He reaches back to help Charlie do the same. Inside, Neville is reading placidly. (I actually saw the biography of Lee Iacocca that he was reading in the last episode in the freecycle box on someone's stoop over the weekend, because: Brooklyn.)
Miles and Charlie clamber along on top of the boxcars. Miles hollers back that he'll get the bomb and tells Charlie to find Danny. The engineer is putting wood on the fire, getting closer to the bomb-log. Charlie climbs down to the level of the cars and sees Danny through the window. Danny, of course, almost gives the whole game away by grinning at her through the window. Somehow the stealth skills of these two dollbabies fool Neville for a moment. Charlie nods at Danny, who tackles Neville.
The engineer throws the bomb into the engine furnace. Miles jumps down off the woodpile and begins fighting with the engineer, when what he really needs to do is uncouple the locomotive from the other cars. Neville and Danny are fist fighting inside their car, and Charlie breaks through the door, lunging at Neville with a knife. Miles overpowers the engineer, wraps his arm in leather and reaches into the fire for the bomb. Neville is choking Charlie when Danny knocks him unconscious with a lamp. The two are on their way out when Nate grabs Charlie and Neville recovers and grabs Danny, holding a gun to his head.
Miles manages to throw the bomb -- which is on fire -- off the train. It explodes to the train and somehow doesn't derail it. Neville tells Nate to bring Charlie to him so he can shoot her. Nate hesitates and whispers to Charlie to shield her head, then throws her out the door and off the train. Neville doesn't care that much. He handcuffs Danny inside the train car again. Miles jumps off the train. So that was all for nothing, I guess. Except now Nate is probably going to get shot in the face. Neville tells him, menacingly, "I told you to bring me the girl."
Charlie catches up with Miles and as they stand on the tracks watching the train roll away, she looks as unhappy as if her favorite spinning instructor has temporarily gone to an ashram so she has to make do with the lady who plays Enya during the cool-down.
Camp. Miles asks Nora if she'll be okay. She doesn't seem to have been stabbed too badly. She starts to say, "Miles, if you hadn't gotten that bomb -- " and he cuts her off. He goes over to soothe Charlie's hurt fee-fees. He tells her the uncle who visited when she was little isn't dead, but he can't be that guy right now because he has to go to Philly and kill Monroe, his best friend. Charlie says, "I get it, Miles. But I don't want to hear it." Because now she's all tough and focused? Charlie is such a jackass.
Charlie, suddenly everyone's leader, asks Aaron if he's coming to Philadelphia. He says he is, and I hope to god he gets an actual storyline soon. Maybe it will turn out that he was responsible for the effed-up Apple Maps on the iPhone 5 and that's what killed civilization? Charlie asks Nora if she's going to try to kill her brother again. Oh, for Christ's sake. Nora very politely doesn't ask Charlie how she would enjoy getting stabbed. They pick up their stuff and set off.
Philadelphia. Thirtieth Street Station actually appears to be in pretty good shape. Neville and his detachment, all in their finest Gestapo jackets by L.L. Bean, walk toward the station, and Julia and a boy -- who runs off -- meet them. Neville hugs his wife, and then she greets Nate. "Hello, Mother," he says.
Flashback. Neville teaches Jason how to use a knife. Jason says he's scared, and Neville says they need to be tough to survive.
Rachel is watching from the window as the militia men escort Danny off the train (I'm kind of impressed she recognizes him after this many years, since it's not like he looks like Ben). She says he's hurt and asks what the men did to him. Monroe says no one will touch him now and she can see him any time she wants. She finishes: "As long as I tell you whatever you want." Well, yes. That is how blackmail works. Monroe asks again what Ben was working on. Rachel goes to the desk and pulls out a sheet of paper. As she draws the MacGuffin, she says they were both working on it and she doesn't have all the specs, but turning the power back on starts with the pendants, of which there are twelve. Great. A whole season's worth of shiny little Horcruxes.
time: Nora gets sick. The guy who has the penicillin wants to nail Charlie. And apparently Miles gets to decide whom to sacrifice.
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